Structured cabling systems allow voice and data services to be delivered to users in a manner that is both flexible and reliable. The disadvantage of this flexibility is that changes can be frequent, making it difficult to keep track of connections between communications equipment and peripheral (workstation or other end-user) equipment. Poor record keeping can result in critical data and voice services being accidentally disconnected, wastage of the infrastructure, difficulty in troubleshooting problems and difficulty in planning and executing disaster recovery strategies.
Historically, structured cabling record management has been done using manual record keeping. This is prone to error and is reliant on the discipline of the engineers to record changes in the system after they have been made.
The problem is made worse by the fact that at least two entries are required for every move or change to be made, where records have to be updated for both the workstation side and the communications equipment side. In the case of links involving backbone connections, up to four entries may have to be cross-referenced in order to determine which workstation is connected to which communications equipment.
The complexity of referencing manual records, coupled with their inherent lack of portability makes manual systems unsuitable for troubleshooting and disaster recovery scenarios.
More recently, computer applications have been used to record structured cabling moves, additions and changes. However the majority suffer the problem that they are not portable and still rely on discipline to keep them up to date. Additionally, most systems are not flexible enough to record details of the plethora of network components, backbone cabling, connection options and necessary data on communications equipment that exist in the real world.
Some vendors supply hardware solutions for managing cabling systems. These consist of specialised patch panels and cables which have an extra conductor to detect changes to the cabling. However, these solutions are costly to install or retrofit to existing systems and do not support all components of the infrastructure.